Abstract
Sexual signals are important in speciation, but understanding their
evolution is complex as these signals are often composed of multiple,
genetically interdependent components. To understand how signals evolve,
we thus need to consider selection responses in multiple components and
account for the genetic correlations among components. One intriguing
possibility is that selection changes the genetic covariance structure
of a multicomponent signal in a way that facilitates a response to
selection. However, this hypothesis remains largely untested
empirically. In this study, we investigate the evolutionary response of
the multicomponent female sex pheromone blend of the moth Heliothis
subflexa to 10 generations of artificial selection. We observed a
selection response of about 3/4s of a phenotypic standard deviation in
the components under selection. Interestingly, other pheromone
components that are biochemically and genetically linked to the
components under selection did not change. We also found that after the
onset of selection, the genetic covariance structure diverged, resulting
in the disassociation of components under selection and components not
under selection across the first two genetic principle components. Our
findings provide rare empirical support for an intriguing mechanism by
which a sexual signal can respond to selection without possible
constraints from indirect selection responses.